Freight, trucking & delivery
Books and taxes for small trucking fleets.
Driver payroll next to leased owner-operator settlements, fuel across every truck, a dispatcher's cut, and the shop bill after a breakdown. Your own bookkeeper sorts it by truck, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
September came in at $15,200 across the fleet. Truck 4's transmission repair at Rush Truck Centers was the big line, so I kept it apart from routine maintenance.
- RTS Financial depositFactored loads
- Direct shipper paymentContract freight
- Rush Truck Centers repairMaintenance and repair
- ADP payroll runDriver wages
- Love's fuel networkFuel
Why your books are different
A small fleet's books go wrong the same way every time.
A generalist sees payroll and a lump of fuel. Your business is trucks that each earn differently, drivers on payroll next to owner-operators on a settlement, and a dispatcher taking a cut of every load. When the books do not track it by truck, you cannot tell which one is actually making money.
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1
Every truck's numbers get averaged together
Five trucks running different lanes at different rates all land in one fuel line and one revenue line. A struggling truck can hide inside a fleet that looks fine on paper.
What we doTags revenue, fuel, and repair costs to the truck that earned or spent them, so you can see which truck is carrying the fleet. -
2
Leased owner-operators and W-2 drivers blur together
A leased owner-operator's settlement and a company driver's paycheck both look like a payment to a person. Mixed into one wage line, it hides your real payroll cost and can mask a misclassification problem.
What we doKeeps W-2 wages, owner-operator settlements, and any dispatcher commissions in separate lines, so labor cost is honest and classification stays visible to the accountant. -
3
A breakdown looks like routine upkeep
A transmission or engine rebuild can run into five figures. Filed next to oil changes and tire rotations, it makes a normal month of maintenance look wildly expensive.
What we doSplits a major repair from routine maintenance, so one bad breakdown does not distort the whole year's average. -
4
A new or used truck lands as one expense
Adding a sixth truck to the fleet is a major purchase, but booked as a plain expense it wrecks the month it happened in and misses the write-off it usually qualifies for.
What we doFlags a truck purchase the day it posts, logs it as equipment by truck, and gets the accountant's call on how to write it off. -
5
Insurance and permits get spread across the wrong months
Annual cargo insurance and apportioned plate renewals hit once a year in a lump sum, making that month look terrible and every other month look better than it is.
What we doNotes when a lump-sum bill is annual, so a single renewal month is not read as a sign something went wrong.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a small fleet.
Set up once for how the fleet gets paid and what it spends, truck by truck. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Contract freightDedicated lane and repeat shipper revenue, the steady money.
- Factored loadsThe full invoiced amount, with the factoring cut booked as a fee.
- Spot market loadsOne-off loads booked off a load board at the going rate.
- Detention and lumper payReimbursements for wait time and unloading, kept apart from load rate.
Money out
- Driver wagesPayroll for company drivers, kept apart from owner-operator settlements.
- Owner-operator settlementsPayouts to leased trucks running under your authority.
- FuelPump purchases across the fleet fuel card.
- Maintenance and repairRoutine service and shop bills, split from major repairs.
- Truck and trailer paymentsLoan and lease payments across the fleet.
- InsuranceCargo, liability, physical damage, and non-trucking liability.
- Dispatch and load board feesA dispatcher's cut or a subscription to book loads.
- Plates and permitsApportioned registration and operating authority renewals.
What we watch for you
- Revenue per truck
What each truck brings in against the fleet average. It shows you which trucks to keep running hard.
- Labor share
Wages and settlements against money in. A rising share means pricing or scheduling needs a look.
- Maintenance cost per truck
Repair spend by truck, so an aging unit shows up before it strands a driver.
- The set-aside
What the fleet will owe, tracked every month, so filing season is a number already known.
Ask Gus
Things small fleet owners ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
No, I kept it as its own line apart from routine maintenance, so the rest of the fleet's month still shows clean and you can see the repair for what it was.
Yes. Wages and settlements sit in their own lines, so you can see labor cost either way and the accountant can flag anything that looks off.
That is above my pay grade to decide, but I keep the commission amounts clear so the accountant can walk you through it.
The tax side
The tax side of running a small fleet.
Most of what trips up a fleet is labels and classification. A driver treated like a contractor, a truck buried in expenses, and a set-aside that should have started in January.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Writing off trucks and trailersA truck or trailer bought for the fleet can often be written off in full the year it is bought, since the lower $32,000 heavy SUV cap does not apply to freight equipment. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Driver versus contractorA driver who runs your routes, drives your truck, and works your hours usually counts as an employee, not a contractor, no matter what the pay arrangement is called.
- 1099s for leased owner-operatorsAny leased owner-operator or dispatcher not on payroll who is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost fleet owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books track each truck honestly all year.
Deductions small trucking fleets miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Fleet fuel card purchases
- Truck and trailer loan interest
- Major repairs and shop labor
- ELD and fleet tracking subscriptions
- Load board subscriptions
- Cargo and liability insurance
- Apportioned plates and permits
- Driver recruiting costs
- Dispatcher commissions
- Uniforms and safety gear
- Yard or terminal rent
- Tools kept in the shop
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A fleet's year, kept every month.
A fleet runs every week of the year, and the tax bill moves with it. Your team stays on both, truck by truck, not just at filing time. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, the 1099 list for leased operators is finalized, and the fleet gets a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been building since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where the fleet stands, what it will owe, and whether summer freight rates and fuel prices changed the number.
- October
Before the freight surge
Retail freight volume climbs before the holidays. Gus looks at whether adding a truck makes sense before December and what still needs doing.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for small trucking fleets. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions small fleet owners ask first.
Can Gus track profit by truck instead of just the whole fleet?
Yes. Revenue, fuel, and repair costs get tagged to the truck that earned or spent them, so you can see which trucks are carrying their weight.
I have a mix of company drivers and leased owner-operators. Is that a problem?
No. Wages and settlements are kept in separate lines, so labor cost stays clear no matter how a driver is paid.
Does a big repair month throw off my whole year?
Not in the books. A major repair gets split from routine maintenance, so one bad month for a truck does not distort the fleet's real average cost.
My dispatcher takes a commission off every load. How does that get booked?
As its own cost, separate from driver pay and factoring fees, so you can see exactly what dispatching the fleet costs you each month.
Do you help decide if my drivers should be W-2 or 1099?
Gus keeps the pay details clean and flags the setup, and the accountant makes the classification call with you, since getting it wrong gets expensive.
We are behind on reconciling three trucks worth of statements. Can you catch us up?
Yes. Send what you have for each truck. Gus sorts it by truck, the accountant checks it, and most fleets know where they stand within a couple weeks.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
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- Boat transport companies
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What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever